Meet Sophie

Today it is my pleasure to introduce you to Sophie Hayes Bush. Sophie came into the world last Monday night, November 2 at 9:50pm. She weighed 8 pounds and 11 oz. She is beautiful, sweet, and pretty much perfect. Just like with the blogs about the rest of our kids, let me first share some background on Sophie.

Sophie’s birth mom did not mean to get pregnant and was planning to have an abortion. Thanks to our adoption agency, she was counseled out of this and encouraged to put Sophie up for adoption. Most of you reading this know that Matt and I have been trying to adopt for many years now. We started out in an international Ethiopia program open to a sibling group and after many years of waiting and Ethiopia becoming increasingly difficult to adopt from, felt God leading us to pursue a domestic adoption. We have known since dating that God was calling us to adopt and always thought it was internationally and we now know differently. We officially switched to a domestic adoption last January and little did we know how quickly Sophie would come into our lives! The timing of all of this was not an accident. Sophie’s birth mom became pregnant last January….the same month we switched. When we switched we had to make a picture book talking about who we are and what our lives are like. We of course included the fact that we live in Haiti and what we do. I worried that this would hurt our chances of being chosen by a birth mom. I mean who would choose for their child to live in a 3rd world country when she could choose a set of wealthy parents who live here in America? We made our picture book, submitted it to 2 different domestic agencies here in Jacksonville, and again began the waiting process that adoptive parents are all too familiar with. Last May, we got a call from one of those agencies telling us a birth mom saw our picture book, loved what she read about Haiti, and chose us specifically because of that. Isn’t the way God works amazing?

As for Sophie’s personality, we have yet to discover all that it will include. Like all newborns, she eats, sleeps, and cries but we still find ourselves in awe of how precious she is and the fact that she is ours. For now we know that our lives are forever changed by this beautiful baby much like they have been forever changed by our kids in Haiti. That is the bittersweet part to all of this. Here we are with our Sophie in America while the rest of our kids are in Haiti. I am anxious for the day when we are all together.

It will be 90 days until the adoption can be legally finalized and we can begin to apply for a passport for Sophie. During those months, we will get to spend time with family and friends and just enjoy getting to know Sophie. I already feel such intense love for her that it is hard to look at her and imagine someone could have made a decision to end her life before it even started. I will forever be thankful to the woman who made the decision to give Sophie life and give us the privilege of raising her. There is a beautiful quote on adoption by Jody Landers that has come to mind many times this past week and puts into words a lot of what I am feeling right now….”A child born to another woman calls me mama, the depth of that tragedy and the magnitude of that privilege are not lost on me.”

Soooo thrilled to hear the news of Sophie’s arrival! May God continue to bless your family as you begin yet another exciting chapter of His plan for your lives. Congratulations Jess and Matt! Couldn’t be happier for you!